Saturday, September 4, 2010

Because I'm still on blogger...I'm going to post some of my future articles on here that will direct you to the new site. If you want to read what I think about the Bills battle for the #3 quarterback/My predictions on the depth chart/ Why James Hardy coming or going will satisfy me/ Why a 4-3 works/and more...click on http://buffalowins.com/

Friday, September 3, 2010

So, long story short: A couple of weeks ago the CEO of http://www.bloguin.com/ contacted me regarding an opportunity for his website. I hadn't heard of the site (sorry, new boss). However, after going to Bloguin.com, I couldn't help but notice that this was a really cool place.

Pretty much Bloguin.com is a online community of writers, who all blog about different teams. For example, You got one guy who writes about the Detroit Red Wings and then you got another guy writing about the Oakland Raiders. By my count, there are about 40-50 sports blogs on the site.

The CEO then told me that he had been looking to launch a Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres section for the website. So, take a guess at who he picked to run the content?

Well, it wasn't an apologist.

So, today marks the last blog that I post on my Joefromnyc website. No worries, because even though I'm changing my address, my style of writing won't be changing for anyone. I'm still going to be the Jabroni-beatin, pizza-eatin, trail-blazin, swear-raisin, faster than a cheetah, stronger than Marcus Stroud, and the hottest thing to hit Canada because the Maple Leafs suck!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

First off, it wouldn't work between the fans and Leinart. I can already picture fans b!tching up a storm whenever Leinart would struggle. I'm talking, "Oh, the guy is from California and he can't possibly play in the cold. He's Hollywood and he only cares about being a celebrity. He's not blue-collar enough for me and Jim Kelly must be rolling over in his grave." It would be a disaster waiting to happen.

Secondly, Leinart is a media whore, who is in love with being a celebrity (C-List, of course), because he can goto clubs and hang out on red carpets (Think the opening of ESPN Zone in Omaha). He is all about getting his mug plastered on the back pages of US Weekly. Sorry, but Matty boy isn't going to get that sort of coverage in Buffalo.

On a side note: You know how you always hear experts say that NFL franchises should be cautious in drafting college players from the University of Texas and Penn State? Well, I'd throw USC into that mix. The whole mentality of that University is to try and make their athletes embrace a world of entitlement. Sorry, but you may play in LA, but you're no different than the athletes who play for The University of Michigan. Check your ego before you enter the NFL. Sorry, but you shouldn't be on GQ or Rims Magazine until you make a pro bowl.

Lastly, and probably the most important issue, Leinart isn't any good. The guy has been benched more times than Jeff George and has wasted a number of chances in the desert. The organization tried to spoon feed him the starting job on multiple occasions, yet, he has always managed to barf up the opportunity.

Leniart's career stats go like this: 57.1 comp, 3893 yards, 14 TD, 20 INT, 70.8 rating in 29 appearances (15 games started). That's not good. And considering that he played with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and AnquanBoldin, and couldn't even muster up a decent passer rating, should tell you more than enough about Leinart. Plus, he's making five million dollars each of the next two years, which is way too much for the Bills taste. Not to mention, he's not worth the money.

Anyways, I probably shouldn't have wasted my breathe on this post; since the Bills already denied the report. However, since this was the talk of the day, I thought I should throw in my two cents. BTW, had to love the pissing battle between Adam Schefter and the Bills regarding the report. Frankly, I'm glad the Bills called Bupkus on Schefter. Sorry, but I still haven't been able to get over Schefter planting the Shanahan seeds of interest to come to Buffalo, when we all knew he was just trying to up the ante with the Redskins.

Look, I'm not a fan of the Bills current quarterback situation and if I were to place a bet on the future, I'd think that Edwards will be gone by next year. However, the Bills next quarterback has to be someone with a clean start (2011 draft pick) or an established quarterback. Leinart doesn't fit that criteria.

BIG NEWS!!! You know how I've been teasing my big announcement regarding this site? Well, the announcement should be made by Friday. Pretty much, I'm moving to a BIGGER platform. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Nothing against Drayton Florence, the guy can play and was arguably the best cornerback for the Bills last year. However, when you're going into your contract year and the other party is two years from being a 1st round pick, you have to go with youth. Before training camp, the only assumption I had towards Leodis McKelvin fighting for a job was so the Bills could get a 100% effort from him in training camp. You know, light a fire underneath him. Now that we are less than two weeks away from the start of the season, Chan Gailey hasn't blinked on giving McKelvin the job. If you look at both players statistics for the preseason, they are relatively the same. They are close in tackles and pass breakups, and really haven't made enough plays to separate themselves from each other.

Prediction: Flip a coin for this battle, but I'm going with Florence. If it was going to be McKelvin, he would have started by now during the preseason. I'll say this though, fans shouldn't get up in arms about McKelvin not starting. Sure, it's not a great sign and would signal another questionable draft choice under Tom Modrak, but it's not like he's going to ride the bench. This is a throwing league, where offenses play with 3-4 wide receiver sets. McKelvin will get on the field and should eventually take over the spot.

2) Will James Hardy get cut?

I wrote earlier in August that I felt the Bills should give Hardy every opportunity to win a job on this team. I happen to come from the old-school when it comes to being patient with draft picks. Especially when high draft picks are wide receivers. However, things aren't looking quite becoming for the former 2nd ride pick. Hardy has struggled this preseason with injuries and competition from other wide receivers like Chad Jackson and David Nelson.

Prediction: I think Hardy survives, barely. Something tells me that because Chan Gailey is an offensive minded coach, he's going to elect to have more wide receivers on the roster than normal. Dick Jauron used to be known for keeping a large amount of cornerbacks, why? Because he's a defensive back coach by trait. When Mike Mularkey was the head coach, he had seven wide receivers on the roster at one point, why? Because he's an offensive minded coach. Not to mention, it's not like there's a wide range of outstanding wideouts on this squad. Really? Are you that impressed with Stevie Johnson? Besides Lee Evans, the majority of these wideouts don't seem to have much upside and because of Hardy being a former 2nd round pick, it should allow him to stay.

Rapid fire questions

3)Will Aaron Maybin start a game this year?

Seriously? Chris Ellis and some dude named Torbor are playing ahead of Maybin? Something tells me that with the injury history of Ellis and the fact that Torbor is a journeyman, Maybin will eventually start a game.

4) Will a Buffalo defensive player get more than 10 sacks?

Marcus Stroud's career best for sacks in a season was 6.5 for the Jags during the 2002 season. Doesn't seem like a lot, does it? Well, that tops the most sacks by anyone for a season on the Bills roster. Judging by the Bills no-named outside linebackers, which are normally the players that would lead the team in sacks in a 3-4 defense, the Bills won't get past 10.

5) Will CJ Spiller get over 1,100 yards rushing?

Yes! Spiller is the talk of the preseason and because of his talent, I can't see the Bills not giving him 15-20 carries a game. When he was first drafted, I thought the Bills were getting their version of Reggie Bush, a guy that would return kicks and catch passes out of the backfield. I know it's still early, but Spiller looks like our version of Chris Johnson and I think he's the type of back that can average almost five yards a carry.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I hate the New York Jets. I hate their wannabe GQ, overrated quarterback. I hate their stupid, young, immature fans, who act like the franchise has set the foundation for winning, even though they haven't won a title in 40 plus years. I hate the Fire Marshall Bill guy and the stupid J-E-T-S chant. Can you tell I have a lot of built up anger towards them?

Now, there is one thing that I do like about the Jets and that's the show "Hard Knocks" on HBO. It's a funny and compelling, albeit, probably half-fixed show. However, the one thing the series accomplishes is that it gives the team a higher profile. Considering how much I hate the preseason, the show would give me something to look forward to in August, which leads me to the premise of my article: Why should the Bills be featured on Hard Knocks?

Now, before I get emails that the Bills and the NFL wouldn't want to do business with each other, lets just pretend that both parties involved were chomping at the bit. So, without further ado, here are five reasons why HBO and the Buffalo Bills should get together.

5) Storyline

Normally for the Hard Knocks series, the show always has a tendency to make the 52nd and 53rd man on the roster resemble a "Rudy" type character. However, do we really care about that roster spot? Its not like the guy is going to do anything for your football team. Frankly, the underdog teammate has been played out and beaten to death on the series and in every lame football movie made. However, with the Bills, you wouldn't have to endure the "Rudy" crap. Of the Bills 22 starting positions, five of those jobs (QB, tight end, wide receiver, OLB and corner) were up for battle this training camp. That would make for some compelling television when it comes to team evaluation meetings. Not to mention, you'd have a few versions of Vernon Gholston on the team (James Hardy and Aaron Maybin). Do I even have to mention Marshawn Lynch's popularity with the city? Trust me, there are some subplots on this team that could get exploited.

4) Ralph Wilson

Since the series debuted with the Baltimore Ravens, the ownership of every team that has been featured has had a prominent role on the show. Guys like Jerry Jones, Woody Johnson and Mike Brown have been viewed as the Snooki of the series. The show is pretty much dictated around the coaches and upper management. They are the ones that set the tone for the series. So, with that being said, wouldn't you be interested in seeing how Ralph Wilson would act around his coaches and players? The Bills have pretty much hid Ralph Wilson from the general public and some have viewed him as being a guy that just doesn't care anymore. Something tells me that if Ralph was put in a situation where we would see him at work, many fans would be able to see that he actually cares. Hey, you never know, maybe Ralph Wilson can be viewed in the same light as Betty White. You gotta understand, old people are in right now for television shows.

3) Do you really like this team?

Here's the biggest accomplishment that the series has done for each player featured: You actually get to know them beyond the bogus press clippings that they offer to the media. I don't know about you, but how many players on this Bills team do you like? Lee Evans, CJ Spiller and Eric Wood....maybe George Wilson? That's really all I can come up with. So, I think if you were to see players open up about their interests off the field and what they would want to contribute to the team, a Buffalo fan would really be open to it.

Let me just put it this way: The other day on Twitter, Chad Ochocinco was tweeting about his take over of an Apple Store at the Galleria Mall. Fellow Twitter members from Buffalo were going ape sh#t about it. Hell, you would have thought Obama was going to Duffs and buying wings again. I've always said, the best way for an athlete to get to the heart of the typical Buffalo fan is to just blow up the city as if it were Las Vegas. So, wouldn't it be cool if someone like Stevie Johnson or Trent Edwards decided to hangout on Chippewa street and enjoy the finer things in life? I think if that content makes air (PG-13 version), fans would like this team a whole lot more.

2) Sell tickets

OK, lets be honest: If you were a Jets fan watching Rex Ryan swear up and down the sideline, it would make you want to go out and buy tickets. The HBO series is the epitome of what I hate about training camp and preseason football: It's pure hype beyond control. It's all about having the 45th guy on the roster look like a million bucks. Hell, the first episode of the show made some damn rookie fullback, named The Terminator, look like a billion bucks. That's hype.

Now, just think of the ways Chan Gailey has enhanced football in August for fans. He told a bunch of kids to get lost by defending his long haired, sideburn quarterback. He must have broken out the 1950's manual on "How to have an intense training camp." In a nut shell: Fans have reacted quite positively towards Gailey's methods.

Can you imagine if we had a weekly show dedicated to Gailey reaming out his players? Telling his guys that they were sloppy? Telling them that they have to get better?

As someone who works in television, I can tell you from firsthand experience that those soundbites would be exploited to the max. Hell, forget about the T.O. hype from last year, this would surely get Buffalo fans excited about the upcoming season.

1) Boosting the popularity

Face facts: The Buffalo Bills aren't even a blip on the radar of the national media. No one cares about us. Not ESPN, not Sports Illustrated, not even the NFL. I know that most Buffalonians may not care if they aren't getting the plug nationally (Think NHL to ESPN), but I like to talk junk to fellow New Yorkers about the Bills. If I could go up to them and look for respect (which they don't give anyway), maybe they would tell me that Chan Gailey really impresses them through the Hard Knocks series.

OK, I know what you're thinking: Who cares about your damn banter with New Yorkers?!!?

Fine. However, the bottom line would be that the TV show would make the Bills become a focal point during the preseason. There always seems to be a water cooler moment for football fans when it comes to the Hard Knock series. Sure, a lot of it has to do with mega markets like Dallas (twice featured on the show) and New York, but if the show is produced to its fullest in hype, then maybe the Bills could get that sort of PR. Hell, any publicity is good publicity.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Since Trent Edwards all but wrapped up the starting quarterback job for the Bills (Even though it wasn't much of an open competition), the biggest question now on the QB depth chart is deciding who should be the back-up. From the looks of it, Ryan Fitzpatrick seems like the guy that is going to get the nod. Now, I'm sure Gailey is going to give a very long look at Brian Brohm on Thursday against the Lions. However, I think it makes sense to go with Fitzpatrick as the #2 quarterback when the season starts.

I know, all summer I've been hoping for Brohm to take the #2 job because he represents the unknown. However, I'm now changing my tune and it has to do with Trent Edwards. If the Bills are as confident in Edwards as they seem to be regarding his preseason performance, then the job should go to Fitzpatrick.

Statistically speaking, both quarterbacks have almost the same stats for the preseason (Brohm: 14 of 22 for 125 yards. Fitzpatrick: 15 of 23 for 138 yards). The only difference is that Fitzpatrick has guided the Bills to touchdowns (3), while Brohm has been getting Rian Lindel some kicking work (2 FGs).

However, the stats have nothing to do with why I'd go with Fitzpatrick.

When you have an unquestioned #1 quarterback and lets be fair here, Edwards has totally outplayed the field, then you would want the back-up to give you every opportunity to win if called upon because of injury. That's a role that Fitzpatrick is better at. Even with Brohm being billed as the unknown, the unknown would now hurt the Bills if they see Edwards as being the true starter, because he now has the most upside. When your starter has upside, then there's no need to have the back-up posses the same quality. Fitzpatrick is a sure thing, albeit, not a great option, but he's still someone that can win a game or two. I'm not sure if you'd get that with Brohm.

Now, I want everyone to understand that I'm still skeptical about the quarterback situation. Everything looks good so far, but we are judging their performances by preseason accomplishments. If the quarterbacks play like they did last year, then the quarterback depth chart is meaningless because everyone will more than likely have a chance to play.

However, in the meantime, if Edwards is the unquestioned #1 option, you would want a veteran to be the back-up. As for Levi Brown, I couldn't even tell you a highlight he has had during the exhibition season, besides his Twitter page. Look for him to be on the Bills practice squad come September.

Now, there have been some reports that the Bills may just cut one of the two options in Brohm or Fitz, but I just can't see them doing that. Especially with Trent's injury history.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

-Wohoo!!! 2nd to last preseason game in the record books!!! Did I ever tell you that I hate preseason football? OK, for a preseason game, it became a statement game. It's still preseason and in order to write about the game, I must pretend that I care about the exhibition season. Alright, I'm lying, I cared about tonight's game and was very impressed with the offense. Hopefully, this will be a prelude for things to come, but I remain skeptical because it's...well, you know--

-Love him or hate him, you gotta give it up to Trent Edwards for his play during the preseason. Over the last two games, he went from Captain Check down to Captain Jack Sparro; guiding the Bills to five preseason touchdowns. He capped off tonight's outing by completing 13 of 17 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. When Edwards can work those 10-12 yard routes, he's pretty affective. Now, two of Edwards touchdown drives went against some second-teamers, but he still played well against the Bengals starters earlier. Another stat going for Edwards was how he averaged over 10 yards a completion, which is impressive for a quarterback not known to stretch the field-

-Beyond the stats, the Trent Edwards that we saw tonight was a guy that was full of confidence, who stepped into the pocket and didn't stare down the pass rush like last year. He also didn't get flustered by looking at one read and then dumping it off to the running back. He took his time in the pocket and completed passes to his 3rd and 4th reads. That's progress, folks-

-After a strange start for CJ Spiller, who was running backwards instead of forward, he ended up putting on a show for the rest of the half by gaining 85 yards in total offense (52 rushing and 33 receiving) and two touchdowns. The guy is so explosive that when he gets the ball in his hands, look out! Something tells me that I'm going to need a dictionary to figure out more ways to describe Spiller's running ability. The guy is a gamer and I can't recall a rookie having a better preseason for the Bills-

-On a side note about Spiller: He touched the ball for a total of 14 times in the first half, which would be the around the number I would expect him to get during a regular season game. Have to wonder if the Bills plan on adding to that number when the regular season starts. I'll admit, seeing the guy run, makes me want to see him play every down. However, I think it would behove the Bills to bring him on slowly-

-To think that Spiller had minus 16 yards on his first three carries and was still able to get to 52 yards by halftime is quite impressive. What is even more impressive is that Chan Gailey didn't lose confidence in his back and just kept feeding him the rock. Something tells me that if Dick Jauron were still the coach, he would have taken Spiller out of the game for not wanting him to lose confidence or get hurt-

-I'll be damned! The Bills ran two successful screen plays! And these weren't crappy 4-5 yard gains or check downs. We are talking about gains of 22 and 18 yards. To think, slow ass Corey McIntyre got 18 yards on a screen pass. That should tell you that the Bills executed the play to perfection-

-I'll be damned #2?!? Roscoe Parrish finally showed something in the passing game by catching 4 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. What made Parrish more affective tonight was being put in position to make plays after the catch. That's how the Bills have to use the Miami product. He's not going to be a possession receiver, but if he's put in position to make runs after the catch, he's going to be dangerous. Just get the guy in open space and you may have found a nice slot receiver-

-I'll say this: I'm so looking forward to see what the Bills will do with the wildcat offense when Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch return from injury. The biggest reason why the formation worked in Miami had to do with defenses not being sure who would get the ball in the backfield. When you have two dynamic backs like Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, it makes it difficult for defenses to hone in on two players who might get the ball. I can't think of a reason why the Bills running backs can't duplicate the same success-

-So...who is still excited about the Bills 3-4 defense?! Yeah, me neither. Look, preseason or not, allowing six touchdowns against the opposition's first team offense isn't something you can just chalk up to August football rust. The Bills biggest weakness on defense are their linebackers, who can can't cover tight ends or rush the passer. My advice: If you have a tight end on your fantasy football and he's going against the Bills, you should start him....immediately! Other than my fantasy advice, it's going to be a long learning process for the Bills to transition to a 3-4 defense-

-Memo to Bills secondary: Maybe when Drayton Florence compared himself to Mr. Freeze, he didn't realize that the 4th Batman film was a complete flop and that The Terminator didn't do justice in playing the role of the villain. The Bills secondary got burned tonight by Palmer and company and should probably ease up on the trash talking on Twitter-

-You know things are going great for the Bills when you read the box score to see that James Hardy caught a pass for 30 yards and Aaron Maybin had a sack. Good job, boys! It's just too bad that you can't play against second-teamers, who will be bagging groceries when the regular season starts. All kidding aside, good showing from Maybin-

Thursday, August 26, 2010

-OK, can we please stop with the name calling of the kids who decided to make immature comments about Trent Edwards' California and hair roots? For god sakes, I heard WGR's Paul Hamilton mention the following: "The action of these kids are a testament to the youth of America for lacking respect." HUH!? Really? Hasn't your station made a killing off of trashing teams, athletes and callers? Talk about lack of respect. Can you say kettle calling the pot black?-

-The big controversy on Twitter yesterday was how the NHL is trying to kill off bloggers from going to the visiting locker rooms after games. Yeah, that's a great way to kill off a media source that actually loves to cover your sport. The NHL are lucky to have such a strong blogging community and should realize that main media outlets don't give a crap about the sport. God forbid if ESPN gives the NHL five minutes a day on Sportscenter-

-I've never been one to get into this whole New Media vs Old Media war. I really don't get it-

-So, I watched ESPN's 30 for 30 on Michael Jordan playing baseball in the summer of 1994. I have to say, that was the biggest Michael Jordan kiss ass spectacle since fans and critics told the world that MJ's cologne smelled great-

-Someone may have wanted to tell the director that Jordan stunk in baseball and that he wasn't Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders. Hell, he wasn't even Drew Henson, Jeff Samardzija, or Fox's Celebrity Boxers-

-Gotta give Buddy Nix credit for coming out and being direct about his review of Trent Edwards: "Trent had the best camp and has the most talent." At least he's shooting from the hip, even though I'm not sure I agree with him on the talent part. Alright, he's probably correct-

-I'm sure you all know that I hate preseason, but there is just something about this game against Cinncy that I'm actually intrigued about. I think it has to do with Owens and OchoCinco going up against the Bills trio of McKelvin, Florence and McGee. Of course, knowing that this is the 2nd to last preseason game may be the reason why I'm looking forward to it-

-Would I be a tool for deciding to buy the Jill Kelly book??? (Thinking)...Forget it! I'm not doing it-

-Am I the only person in America that hasn't seen the movie Inception? It's weird, because I wanted to see it for over a year after I saw the original preview. I just have to motivate myself to get to a theater-

-The more I think about it, the more I think Lee Evans can be a steal in fantasy football drafts. Remember, there's no T.O. to take away catches and looks from Evans. Plus, having a real offensive coordinator calling the plays shouldn't hurt-

-You want a sleeper for Fantasy Football? Donovan McNabb. OK, he's not much of a sleeper, but he's listed as the 11th QB on Yahoo, and considering what Shanahan has done with QBs, you should take a stab at him. Hell, under Mr. Fake and Bake, Bryan Griese and Jake Plummer passed for 24 and 27 touchdowns in a season. Imagine what he can do with #5?-

-Alright, let me give you one more: Malcom Floyd. It doesn't look too promising that Vincent Jackson is going to show up in San Diego any time soon, which means Rivers is going to have to throw the ball to someone other than Gates-

-I'm in a good mood, so here's one more sleeper: Chris Chambers. He played pretty well for the Chiefs down the stretch last year; catching 17 passes for 278 yards in his final four games. He's actually going undrafted in a lot of leagues, but I still think he'd be a good pick-up late-

-I can't wait till the season opener for the Bills. Look, I know I haven't given the team a snowball chance in hell at making the playoffs, but I truly do love football. I get butterflies just thinking about Week 1. It's awesome and I just love the scene more than anything in sports-

- For week 1, I'm going to a Bills backers bar in NYC called McFaddens. It's on 42nd and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. If you're ever in NYC during football season, you have to check the place out. It's literally like walking into a bar in Buffalo. Labatt Blue on tap (No NYC bar has Blue), cheesy 80's rock playing on the loud speakers, and all you can eat wings and beer for 25 bucks. Not to mention, they have like 14 TVs that only plays Bills games-

-Hey, did you know that you can hear me on show called "BSN After Hours" on Tuesday nights at 10:30? Well, now you know and your job is to spread the word. Make sure you save the link-

-BTW, I have to give props to BSN and Sal Capaccio for having me on their Justin.TV channel. You can of course listen to Coach Sal's show every Tuesday at 9:30, where he talks about Bills happenings.

-HUGE plans are coming up for my blog, and that's all you get for now-

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Judging by the headline you probably think I'm going to bash Wilson's spending habits. Well, not today, but I may have a blog about that in the near future. However, this blog is about whether Ralph Wilson's vision of creating a football team is up to date. Actually, it's more like dissecting the way Ralph Wilson would construct his team.

Before I get into Ralph's blueprint for a football team, I just want to make one thing perfectly clear: Ralph Wilson will always have a say in personnel. Jerry Sullivan has mentioned it a bunch of times on how Ralph was all over the drafting of Marshawn Lynch and Trent Edwards. Plus, there's a reason why Tom Modrak is still with the organization: He gets along with the owner. Bottom line: Ralph has a major say.

From one owner to another, fans and media members who follow the Oakland Raiders have mentioned that Al Davis always sticks to his guns for the way he builds his teams. Since the 60's, the emperor of Raiders Nation has always been in love with the following:

Now, over the years, Davis has been getting a ton of backlash from fans and media for being hard headed with his ways. Seven straight seasons of 10 losses or more will do that to you. I can only assume that Davis won't change his ways because he has three Super Bowl rings as the architect of the Raiders. So, who would know better to construct a Super Bowl team than someone that has multiple championships? I'm sure that's Al's thought process. It's funny when you listen to the owner's interviews. For instance, he spoke to reporters on how Jason Campbell reminds him of Jim Plunket. Al always seems to reach into the old memory bank to compare his players of today to yesteryears. I can't help but think that maybe another original AFL owner might have the same thought process.

Like Davis, Wilson has been around football for over five decades and I think his criteria of building a football team may have stayed the same. Here are a few football philosophies that I have come up with about Wilson:

1) Ralph Wilson loves running backs. Since 1997, the Bills have drafted five running backs in the first two rounds of the draft (A. Smith, Travis Henry, Willis McGahee, Marshawn Lynch and CJ Spiller), which ties for the most backs selected by a team (Carolina Panthers) in those rounds. 2) Ralph Wilson doesn't care about tight ends. Since 1985, the highest the Bills have drafted a tight end was in the 2nd round (the immortal Lonnie Johnson) 3) Ralph Wilson doesn't use first round picks on quarterbacks as much as you think.

4) Ralph Wilson use to NOT pay for cornerbacks.

My View on Wilson's love for running backsI'm sure we all know how many experts and fans have spoken up about running backs being a dime a dozen. I could give a list of pro bowl running backs that have been selected on day two of the NFL draft. So, why do the Bills continue to draft running backs in the 1st round and give $31-million in guarantee money to Lynch and Spiller?

Maybe, because Ralph Wilson selected OJ Simpson with first pick of the 1969 NFL Draft. Think about it, before Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas walked onto the field at the Stadium, OJ Simpson was "Thee Guy" in Bills folklore. He made a lot of money for Ralph Wilson and was the sort of player you would pay to see. Wilson may think that lightning may strike twice by drafting running backs so high.

Now in fairness, Wilson has actually had a nice track record with picking up running backs early in the draft. Now, when I say that, I'm disregarding off the field issues (OJ with the missing glove and Marshawn Lynch with the missing license plates). Joe Cribbs and Thurman Thomas were former 2nd round picks who played exceptionally well for the Bills. Say what you will about McGahee, but when he started for the Bills in 2004, he was as dynamic of a running back as you can get.

Bottom line: Even though you can find a running back off the streets or late in the draft, Mr. Wilson isn't about to test that theory.

My view on Ralph Wilson not caring for tight endsI could go on forever about my disdain towards the way the Bills have treated the tight end position. Do we even know who our starting tight end is this year?!! The Bills have never had a tight end go over 70 catches or 700 yards for a season and I couldn't even tell you the last time one went over 100 yards in a game.

Now, back in the 60's, 70's and 80's the tight end position hardly ever made a impact in the passing game. Hell, I couldn't even name you five tight ends that played during that time frame. The reason being is that tight ends were hardly used in the passing game and were mostly used for blocking.

Did you know that up until 1994, only four tight ends had gained over a 1,000 yards in an NFL season? Like..EVER?! I'm talking 70 years worth!

Those players were Kellen Winslow Sr., Ozzie Newsome, Joe Senser and Todd Christensen. Not to mention, there were no tight ends that went over 1,000 yards during the 70's. Last year alone, three tight ends went over the 1,000 yard mark. Do I even need to really dissect the history of the tight end for the Bills? Robert Royal? Lonnie Johnson? Mark Campbell? Keith McKellar?

And I'm sorry, I know there are some Pete Metzelaars fans up in here, but the guy was awful in the passing game. He would do the same thing every time he caught a football. You know how in school they would teach you that if you get catch on fire, you should just fall to the ground and roll? Well, that's how Metzelaars would react after catching a pass. He'd make a reception 5-7 yards down the field and then he'd just drop to the ground and roll. Yes, I know, he's a great blocker and Jim Kelly loved him.

Back to the present, and in a nutshell, lets just say that if you play fantasy football, more than likely, a Bills tight end isn't going to be on your roster. I don't know what gives with the Bills, but the team has failed to utilize their tight ends. One would assume that drafting guys in the 5th round or cutting Joe Klopefenstein 10 times aren't the answers. Again, I'd like to think that RW understands that the tight end position has evolved over the years. However, judging by the production, it doesn't seem like he does.

My view on Ralph Wilson using first round picks on QBsHonestly, this is probably the weakest reason for figuring out Wilson's methods of building a team. The Bills owner has had mixed results in using first round picks on quarterbacks. However, when he hits on them, it's blackjack and when he doesn't hit, it's a HUGE bust.

Here's the strange thing about Wilson and the history of starting quarterbacks for the Bills: If I were to ask you to take a guess on "how has the franchise found their starting quarterbacks?" I'd bet that 7 out of 10 people would say that the team has mostly drafted a QB in the first round.

Actually, it's not really the case.

In the Bills 51 years in existence, they have only drafted three quarterbacks in the first round: Richie Lucas (1960), Jim Kelly (1983) and JP Losman (2004). Now, the Bills had traded two first round picks for quarterbacks (Rob Johnson in 1998 and Drew Bledsoe in 2002). So really, the Bills haven't addressed the quarterback via the first round as much as we have probably thought. I'm not sure where the thought process is nowadays for the Bills. They haven't drafted a quarterback in the first round since 2004 and NFL teams for the most part, besides the Saints and Patriots, have starting QBs who were drafted in the first round.My view on Ralph Wilson NOW paying for cornerbacksI use to always give Wilson crap for using first round picks on cornerbacks; only to let them leave after their rookie deals expired. Guys like Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Thomas Smith, and Jeff Burris were all first round picks that didn't see 2nd contracts from the Bills. You can also include Nate Odomes and Jabari Greer in that mix.

That changed last year. Wilson did the unthinkable by giving Terrence McGee a multi-year contract extension. I don't know what made Wilson decide to change things up. It's interesting, because this day and age, the referees are calling a lot more illegal contact penalties down the field and cornerbacks are now being pushed to the back burner of team requirements. Bill Parcells (Who I hold a candle to) said that he would never spend a high draft pick on a cornerback because of how the NFL rules are now more in favor of the receivers than the corners. Hey, the NFL wants a passing league and will do everything to get the job done.

So, maybe Ralph is done with the whole drafting corners in the first round and that's why he extended McGee. Then again, if corners are being downgraded, then why give a lucrative contract extension to McGee?

BTW, I'm sure a lot of you would have mentioned paying mega bucks for coaches and more scouts, but for this blog, I decided to go about it on the field.

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About Me

I'm a 29 year old die hard Buffalo Sports fan. I was born in raised in Buffalo for the first 22 years of my life. After graduating with a degree in TV broadcasting from Buffalo State College, I picked up my stuff and moved to the Big Apple. Prior to moving I had big dreams about working in Sports TV and even interned for the sports department at WGR and WGRZ. My goal was to be a sports caster. (which is like 80% of all college kids in Broadcasting) Well unfortuntely I didnt exactly have the right delivery or voice (Think Emmit Smith and Bob Gaughan).
I decided to move to NYC and started working as a freelancer on TV shows for different networks. I've been doing that ever since 2002 and It has been quite an adventure.
But the point of this log is to talk about being a sports fan for a different team in a different city. As I'm sure all of you know, NYC Fans are very arrogant when it comes to their teams. The Worse part is they look down at us Buffalo fans as if we are The Jerry Springer of fans, while they are the Oprahs of the world.
But anyways just sit back and relax and enjoy the blog.